WWE TV - 4/15 - 4/21/2024 - Policy of Awesome Truth

[For Great Justice]

Yeah I’m concerned about Gable as a heel. he’s such a natural Mighty Mouse babyface.

If they are going full blown killer wrestling machine, maybe he needs a manager. Angle would work, and he himself hasn’t worked heel in a while so that would be fresh. 

Edited April 16 by For Great Justice

[Greggulator]

Gable was a great doofus heel in his early days of NXT when they were starting up American Alpha. He’s been a heel on the big roster, too, and good. The Academy were fun borderline delusional heels until they built Gable up for the awesome Gunther saga that led to the awesome Sami stuff. Also: You put Gable in the Twin Cities against Sami, you can get the inverse from last night in terms of reaction. 

What a great storyline. They did such an awesome job weaving all of this together — Gable wanting a shot at Gunther, Sami showing doubt in the stands touching on his Roman match (and subtly building up in the audience’s mind to last night by mentioning Montreal), the Gauntlet Match where Sami won (and a pro-Gable backlash) and then the past few weeks.

As people pointed out elsewhere: Was there some disingenuousness with Gable wanting Sami to win because he thought Sami an easier target? 

But, best of all, Gable didn’t do a poor sportsmanship turn right after he lost. He snapped when he saw Sami hugging his wife, because he remembered the heartbreak of losing to Gunther as his family watched. He literally snatched the moment away from Sami by pulling him from his wife into a German Suplex right in front of her. So nasty.

We all saw it coming, but understanding and seeing Gable get to this breaking point over the months is a great story. He gave into his jealousy, and we know why. That is why it is so effective and villainous.

Another great moment of genius between Sami and Gable last night was how they got to the awesome visual at the ending. It is so organic. Gable rams Sami headfirst while they are both on the apron and Sami falls so naturally between the turnbuckles for Gable to to hit the ankle lock, which could have looked so convoluted in the hands of people who aren’t two of the most gifted storytellers in wrestling.

Also: I think it’s really likely Rhea’s arm was messed up somewhere else and they pulled the trigger on the Liv attack last week to put the heat on Morgan, since she’s been heelish in the few weeks before WM (with a pretty great segment against Becky) knowing Rhea was having surgery.

I rewatched the Liv attacking Rhea spot from last week and while it looks snug, there doesn’t look like anything so nasty it would mess up Rhea’s slinged arm. Plus, that was also  their bit of tracking shot wizardry last week (Rhea and Dom do a Sorkin walk-and-talk to set up him versus Andrade before the attack) and then Dom reappears and tells the camera to get out of here, and it goes to an extended crowd shot. It’s so well blocked that they had to have rehearsed it a bunch of times and probably kept it pretty safe for Rhea. 

Man, I just can’t get over the type of stuff we are talking about now with the WWE’s production. It’s been a bunch of really fun small changes (the quick backstage interviews, a lot more pre-taped stuff like Sami in the crowd or the KCs partying) but now it’s so remarkably different.

I think they are smart enough to just do one tracking segment a show (at most) because you want those for special moments and since they’re really hard to pull off live, you really need your most talented people to do those because you need to hit certain marks and timing. (Jey has to get to Sami pretty quickly and literally shoves a fan to make it happen, then Sami has to get to the right section to walk down to and they have to time all that with the music cue.) 

I am such a fanboy for production stuff. I was a TV Production major in college. I had absolutely no interest in doing that professionally but I always liked seeing how it was put together. 

[worldcupfever]

9 hours ago, Greggulator said:

The last shot of the camera looking up at Chad Gable doing the ankle lock on the top rope was just some really good Film Making 101 and the usage of a subjective camera angle to make Gable look even stronger.

That's what got me.  PPV-level ending shot on a weekly show.

[Just Dave]

Yeah, I don’t watch the whole show ever anymore, but I caught that segment on YouTube and that whole thing was aces.

Edited April 16 by Just Dave

[Dolfan in NYC]

25 minutes ago, Greggulator said:

(Rhea and Dom do a Sorkin walk-and-talk to set up him versus Andrade before the attack) and then Dom reappears and tells the camera to get out of here, and it goes to an extended crowd shot. It’s so well blocked that they had to have rehearsed it a bunch of times and probably kept it pretty safe for Rhea. 

I think this is at the key to the production changes.  Vince/Dunn hit gold when they, I guess, watched Natural Born Killers, and thought that's how they should present their product from then on.  Zero attention span theater... quick cuts, shaky cam, impact zooms, etc.  And for a long while there, it worked and made them seem very hip and edgy, which is something I'm positive Vince obsessed about (wanting very much to get past the era of smoke filled VFW Halls).  The latest example of which is the AR stuff that no one asked for. 

TV has evolved so much since then, that the new minds Levesque brought in have clearly been wanting to change how the whole thing feels for a while now.  The long, sweeping shots.  The return of steady cam.  The very recent dumping of the AR stuff too.  Along with the change of booking, it's made the product feel completely renewed in a way that's different from where it was AND feel different from what AEW is doing.   

They want you to feel that WWE is the big leagues, and they can pour money into things like 8K cameras (see Bayley's entrance on Friday) to make themselves seem cinematic and much less dated than even a year ago. 

[The Natural]

Sucks Rhea Ripley is injured and has to vacate the WWE Women's World Championship, she was one day away from beating Bayley for the longest reign in the belt's history. Ripley ties with Bayley's second reign.

What an entrance for Sami Zayn. Great camerawork.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fzQWryR7qZo&pp=ygUSc2FtaSB6YXluIGVudHJhbmNl

[EVA]

One key thing that’s probably getting overlooked with the way the weekly TV is being shot is that it’s a lot easier to do interesting and/or complex shot setups when the showrunner isn’t constantly rewriting the show up until showtime (and sometimes while the show is in progress). Past a certain threshold, all you can do is static setups and use a lot of editing (and other tricks) to cover up for the lack of dynamic shots because you just don’t have time. Knowing what you’re shooting with ample production time helps talented people use their talents!

Edited April 16 by EVA

[Greggulator]

1 hour ago, EVA said:

One key thing that’s probably getting overlooked with the way the weekly TV is being shot is that it’s a lot easier to do interesting and/or complex shot setups when the showrunner isn’t constantly rewriting the show up until showtime (and sometimes while the show is in progress). Past a certain threshold, all you can do is static setups and use a lot of editing (and other tricks) to cover up for the lack of dynamic shots because you just don’t have time. Knowing what you’re shooting with ample production time helps talented people use their talents!

YES. You can also really see them writing not just on a week-to-week basis and even beyond just knowing what's happening next week, too. They've been really good at putting people in the right places for a few weeks out, and then they can get to the specifics of what they actually want to do when it comes down to it. (Gable, Liv and now Bronson Reed and the impending Finn/Priest showdown/etc.) The show is so organized right now. But it also feels completely loose, too. Even though it's probably more rehearsed than ever before and still pretty tightly scripted. 

Another great part about having the stories unfold where you see motivations -- it makes the things you need for actual surprises to actually pop, like Tonga's debut on Smackdown. 
 

[Dolfan in NYC]

Since Hunter took over ... damn almost 20 months ago now...   is Rhea the first truly story altering major injury he's had to deal with?  Cause I can't imagine she was going to lose the title to Liv almost immediately after her triumphant Mania match. Now I can't see anyone else winning it, barring someone huge returning.

Also, supposedly Becky hasn't signed her extension.  Which makes me think that Mania match could have been a soft farewell while she goes to AEW or Japan for a while for a *much* needed freshening up.  But then again, she may just re-sign now that Rhea's sidelined for however long. 

[odessasteps]

I don’t think underdog babyface Gable moves needle as much as underdog babyface Sami, esp if they need they were Montreal right after Mania. 

[Eivion]

1 hour ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

Since Hunter took over ... damn almost 20 months ago now...   is Rhea the first truly story altering major injury he's had to deal with?  Cause I can't imagine she was going to lose the title to Liv almost immediately after her triumphant Mania match. Now I can't see anyone else winning it, barring someone huge returning.

Also, supposedly Becky hasn't signed her extension.  Which makes me think that Mania match could have been a soft farewell while she goes to AEW or Japan for a while for a *much* needed freshening up.  But then again, she may just re-sign now that Rhea's sidelined for however long. 

CM Punk was the first. I don't think they really knew what they were doing with Rhea as far as her title reign goes. Her injury is probably more damaging to Judgement Day plans than the women's title direction.

 

[The Comedian]

20 hours ago, ChesterCopperpot said:

Awesome

 

Once again, mad props to Gunther for making the Intercontinental Championship something worth winning for the first time since, what, the early 90's?

 

Cause if this was the IC title of just a few years ago, this moment wouldn't be nearly as big..."Hey, Sami's back with that belt that all the mid-carders play hot potato with. Oh well, better than the 24/7 Title, I guess..."

 

[odessasteps]

It would seem odd for Becky to leave right after they published her book and her husband still there. I could see a mini vacation off TV to freshen her up. 

[username]

2 hours ago, odessasteps said:

It would seem odd for Becky to leave right after they published her book and her husband still there. I could see a mini vacation off TV to freshen her up. 

I've said this before but I would not be shocked if Becky is heading for either a full or partial retirement as her last year or so very much has the feel of wrapping things up. Had the run as NXT champ facing the new women, got in the Nia feud finally, wrote a book and put over the new ace of the division at the big show of the year, has a couple months left on her contract and has a young kid at home? If she was wrapping things up to a degree... it would look a lot like this.

[Eivion]

Dijak/Dar was good. Was glad to see Dar pick up the victory. Curious if this is a turn for Dijak as the crowd were all in behind him here..

Sol/Lola was a nice showcase for Sol. Lola did fine but didn't show off as much. The finish and post match worked well enough as setups for Sol/Blair II and Nattie/Lola NXT Underground.

Ridge/Wilde was solid.

The Family/NQCC segment was alright but lasted a bit too long.

Ilja/Evans was good and a damn fine showcase for Evans. Evans is going to be a star if his personality/character can manage to even be half as interesting as his ring work.

Was nice to see Thea and Chase finally bury the hatchet. Also dug Tatum's promo vid explaining her devotion really being the Women's title itself opposed to the holder. Thea/Tatum was pretty decent while it lasted. The Jacy interference was expected. The post match attack by Lyra slightly less so. Enjoyed Roxanne's backstage interview setting up the triple threat next week.

AoP vs. Enofe/Blade was a good semi-competitive slaughter. The Authors are still great a monster hosses, and Enofe/Blade were perfect counters to them stylistically and personality wise. 

Ivar/Briggs was decent, but I'm not sure it was a necessary match. Feels like they haven't been going the right direction with Briggs's character since he went solo. I rarely find myself or the audience ever really rooting for him.

Trick/Solo was good though I dug their Stand & Deliver match more. Will be interesting to see if this is the end of hayes in NXT with the Draft coming up.

Could have been stronger match and segment wise though there was some worthwhile stuff here like Dijak/Dar, Trick/Hayes II, Thea/Chase reconciliation, etc. Overall this felt like a solid enough episode for building up the coming Spring Breakout shows.

[Cliff Hanger]

So does the late Drew Gulak stay on the roster page forever like Brodie Lee at AEW, or is this just until they find the corpse or the police call off the search?

 

This show wasn't as much fun as the last couple, but I was glad to see a few new directions etc. Dijak being the victim of a long, slow heat segment during a picture-in-picture break was downright weird, but it feels like they kind of HAVE to turn him if he's staying in Orlando because the Loyal Perverts love him too much. (Not that I blame them). Very interested to see who wins the women's belt next week and who gets pinned.

 

Didn't they used to be better about setting up both weeks of the Double Digests before the first one? Or am I misremembering? I guess the Draft Sandwich nature of the event means there will be people competing on the second show who were on a touring roster the Tuesday before, which may be why Natalya v Vice is the only week 2 match so far. We're clearly getting Axiom/Frazer v Authors on night 2, I just hope it doesn't end up being a 3 week reign.

[dragonzombie]

Pre Fightful, Raw and Smackdown people can be drafted to NXT this year. Other newz sites out there says there are plans to make NXT the third brand. I got my doubts if the news is all true.

[Hail Sabin]

Well, Remember NXT moves to the CW in October. 

[dragonzombie]

52 minutes ago, Hail Sabin said:

Well, Remember NXT moves to the CW in October. 

I wonder which show in the future will be the A show or flagship? Right now it's Smackdown since the FOX move, but Smackdown being on FOX is ending this year.

[Hail Sabin]

My Guess is Raw since it will be on Netflix 

[The Natural]

On 4/17/2024 at 12:18 AM, The Comedian said:

Once again, mad props to Gunther for making the Intercontinental Championship something worth winning for the first time since, what, the early 90's?

 

Cause if this was the IC title of just a few years ago, this moment wouldn't be nearly as big..."Hey, Sami's back with that belt that all the mid-carders play hot potato with. Oh well, better than the 24/7 Title, I guess..."

 

Gunther and Triple H deserve a ton of credit making the WWE Intercontinental Championship important again.

[dragonzombie]

See what they do to the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships. If anything.

 

 

[odessasteps]

A week late, but saw Bron match vs Grimes. If they are saying “ he doesn’t work by the hour,” maybe he will get the Magnum/Goldberg push.

[Greggulator]

Solo taking over The Bloodline absolutely ruled. I loved how he upgraded into the “gang kid going to senior prom” suit. Tonga looks like an absolute psychopath. I love all of his mannerisms. Him dragging a bloodied KO for more was absolutely nuts. All in on this. 

Damage CTRL and Bianca/Jade in dueling skyboxes was really good. Dakota Kai does not get enough love for being such an obnoxious piece of shit. The tag match for the first to get to A Town Down Under was very 1997 WCW Nitro lucha car crash, a style that I often times prefer. 

[The Natural]

https://shop.wwe.com/content/ws/all/904c9d26-7b45-4362-a648-cba5fb68fb75__640X696.jpg

Smackdown definitely has the better looking tag team titles. Like both but Smackdown's a lot more.